Swimming pool



J. M. RACINA SWIMMING POOL Feb. 1, 1966 Filed Aug. 6. 1963 "INENLORATTORNEY.

3,231,902 SWIMMING POL Joseph M. Racina, 73 Grove Ave., Woodbridge', NJ.Filed Aug. 6, 1963, Ser. No. %),324 2 Claims. (Cl. 4-172) This inventionrelates to swimming pools and, particularly, to swimming pools ofrelatively simple and inexpensive construction.

At the present time, one of the simplest types of construction of aswimming pool includes a wall frame of wood Ior synthetic materialand asand bottom or door, over which a liner sheet of waterproof materialisplaced to :contain a volume ofvwater for swimming. Generally, the bottomor floor of the pool includes portions .at different elevations with aparticularly deep area for use in diving from a diving board. In thepast, in pools yof this type after a period of use, the sand floor hasshifted under a tendency to fill the deepest areas, and eventually thefloor and the walls collapsed and the waterproof liner was torn. Thepool was thus rendered unusable.

The objects or" the present invention concern the provision of animproved swimming pool construction in which a multi-level floor ofgranular material is employed and in which collapse or shifting of thefloor is prevented.

Briefly, a swimming pool embodyingl the invention includes a side wallframe and a iioor whi-ch includes por- United VStates Patent O tions ofdifferent elevations, including a shallow flat portion and a slopingdeeper portion. The door is made up of a granular material such as sand.According to the invention, the sloping portion rof the floor of thepool is divided into a plurality of volumes of sand, each of which isenclosed or surrounded by a rigid frame.` The exposed surface of eachvolume lof sand is flat, is level withthe enclosing frame, and it istrowled t-o a hard, smooth finish.

Portions yof the Vsurrounding frame are present, particulari ly in areaswhere an edge of a volume of the door which slopes meets an edge ofanother volume of the floor at a different level :or where the slopingportion of` the floor meets the side wall or the flat portion of theoor. `With this type of construction, the floor cannot shift andcollapse.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view, partly in section, or" a swimming poolstructure embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a portion of the structure of FIG. l; and

FIG. 3 is a sectional View along the line 3--3 of 'FIG. 2.

The principles of the present invention are applicable to swimming poolsin which the floor is made up :of a porous, granular material such assand or the like and in which the side walls may be made ofsubstantially any material including poured con-crete, concrete blocks,or the like, or panels of wood or synthetic material or the likesuitably secured together.

Referring to the drawing, a swimming pool 10 embodying the inventionincludes vertical side walls 20, 21, 22, 23 which, as indicated, may beof any suitable type of material. Generally, the pool 10 is embedded inthe ground with its side walls surrounded and enclosed by earth iill.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the door of the poolincludes a first at, level, shallo-w portion 30 and a second deeper,sloping portion 34 which is suitable for diving into from a divingboard. The sloping portion is shown as an inverted truncated pyramid;however, it may take other forms. The level portion 30 of the floor ofthe pool 10 merges smoothly with the sloping portion 34.

The present invention is employed where the floor of the pool is madeup, not of a solid monolithic -body such as concrete, but of a porous,granular material such as 3,231,902 Patented Feb. l, 1966 sand `or thelike. Such a lloor normally tends to shift under use unless precautions,such as those described below,are taken.

According to the invention, the deeper portion 34 of the pool isseparated from the shallow, flat portion 30 by means of a transversehorizontal beam or plank 40 which extends acrossthe width of the pooland is secured in any suitable fashion to the opposite walls 21 and 23.Y

Referring to the deep end of the pool, a form for a safety ledge isprovided including a rst beam or plank 46 secured at `one end to thetransverse beam 40 and at the other end to beam 54. The top of the beam46 is at the same horizontal level as the top of beam 40. The beam 46lies parallel to wall 21 with its width parallel to the wall, and it isspaced from the wall 21 by about ten or twelve inches, an amountsuitable for use as a safety ledge on which a swimmer may stand. Asimilar -beam 50 is positioned adjacent to the opposite wall 23 and issecured at its ends to the transverse beam 40 and the beam 54. Thesafety ledge is completed by a third beam 54 secured between Iopposedwalls 21 and 23 and is parallel' to and spaced from end wall 22.Reinforcing transverse support members v60 are secured between the beams46, 50, and 54 and the adjacent walls 21, 23, and 22, respectively. Thespaces between the beams 46, 50, 54 and the side walls are eventuallyfilled with sand or the like to provide a safe, solid ledge on which aswimmer may stand. The safety ledge thus provided by the Vbeams 46,50,`and 54 spaced from the walls might also lbe provided by solid piecesof lumber or the like suitably secured to the side walls of the pool.

It is to be noted that the side walls 21, 22, and 23 extend downwardlybelow the level of the safety ledge so that, when thepool is completed,the sand which' constitutes the ledge .presses outwardly against thelower portions of the side walls and thus balances the force exerted onthe outside of -the pool wall bythe surrounding earth fill.

The beams 40, 46, 50 and 54 define the larger base of the invertedtruncated pyramid which comprises the deep end 34 of the pool 10. Thesmaller base of the pyramid comprises planks 67, 68, 69, 70 securedtogether to form a small box 72. The box 72 is positioned at the regionof greatest depth of the pool 10, and it is oriented in a horizontalplane.

The form for the truncated pyramid also includes four slanted connectingbeams lor planks 80, 81, 82, 83 which extend from the four corners ofthe larger vbase to the four corners of the smaller base, and four otherslanted connecting beams 90, 91, 92, 93, which extend, respectively,from the center of Aeach beam of the larger base to the center of thecorresponding plank of the smaller base. As can be seen in FIG. 3, theends of the slanted-beams are formed to ybear smoothly against the beamsthey contact, and the upper end of each connecting beam blends smoothlywith, and is at the same level as, the top of the beam with which it isin contact. Similarly, lat the lower end of each connecting beam, itstop surface is at the same level as the top surface `of the plank of thebox 72 with which it is in contact.

{For example, lconsidering the `juncture of sloping beam `93 and theltransverse beam 40 as shown in FIG. 3, it can 'be seen that the end ofthe sloping beam is cut to provide a ila-t surface bearing against thetransverse beam. In addition, the corner formed -by the tapered end andthe .top surface of the beam 93 lies at the same horizontal level as thetop surface of the transverse beam 4t); The same construction isemployed at the lower end of the sloping beam where the end of the beambears against the box 72 and the upper corner 104 formed by the end andthe top surface lies at the same hor-izontal level as the top surface ofthe beams of the box. Thus, it can be seen that nowhere is there aslanted volume of sand which has an exposed edge not protected by abeam, which might form a starting point for shifting and from which .theentire volume might collapse under use.

In constructing the pool, the required excavation is made in the groundfor the deep and shallow portions of the pool. The side Iwalls areassembled, and the form for .the truncated pyramid is secured theretoand set in place in the ground. Next, sand is poured into the pool tofill the shallow portion to the desired height which is level with thetop of the transverse beam. The floor of the shallow portion is packedhard and troweled fiat and smooth. Next, sand is poured into the spacebetween the beams 46, 50, and 54 and the side walls level with the topof each beam to provide the required safety ledge and to provide asupport for the Walls themselves at their lower ends as described above.This sand is also packed hard and smooth. Sand is also poured in'to thebox which defines the smaller base 72 of the pyramid and is formed levelwith the top surface of this smaller base.

Sand is also poured into the spaces defined by the larger and smallerbases and by the sloping connecting beams which extend between them. Thedeep end of the pool thus includes eight volumes of sand which have atapered surface and which extend from the larger base to the smallerbase. In each volume, the sand is packed hard and level with the topsurfaces of the beams which define or enclose the volume. The surface ofthe sand is worked until it is flat, level with the tops of theenclosing beams, and hard and smooth. Each volume of sand is treated inthis way.

Finally, a liner 110 of plastic material, such as a vinyl composition,or the like, is set in place covering the floor and side walls and issuitably secured to the pool walls. The pool is now ready for usewithout danger of collapse of the fioor or walls.

Of course, the required dirt fill is provided around the Outside of thepool, and concrete walks or the like may be provided as desired.

The principles of the invention have been set forth above. Those skilledin the art will appreciate that the mechanical features illustrated neednot be employed exactly as described in practising the invention. Forexample, the form for the deep end of the pool need not be a truncatedpyramid but may take some other shape. Other modifications may be madeas required.

What is claimed is:

1. A swimming pool construction comprising a wall enclosure,

a floor of granular material,

a first portion of said oor being flat and at a relatively shallowdepth,

a second portion of said floor being generally funnelshaped andextending downwardly from the level of said rst portion,

said second portion including a ledge at the same level as said firstportion of the floor and extending around the periphery of said secondportion adjacent to said wall enclosure,

a transverse beam extending across said floor between said shallow firstportion and said second portion, the ends of said transverse beam beingsecured to opposed side walls of said wall enclosure,

the top surface of said transverse lbeam being level with the surface ofthe level first portion of said floor,

said ledge including a plurality of interconnected ledge beams spacedfrom and coextensive with the walls of the pool which surround saidledge,

the top surface or said ledge beams lying at the same level as the topsurface of said transverse beam,

a plurality of sloping beams secured to said transverse beam and to saidledge beams and extending downwardly toward the lcenter of said deeperportion of the floor where they are secured in place,

the transverse beam, ledge beams and sloping beams resting on asupporting earth surface and forming therewith a plurality of open endcompartments, all of said compartments being filled with said granularmaterial, the upper surface of said granular material being fiat and atthe same level as the top surfaces of said beams forming saidcompartments, and

a tiexible plastic liner sheet being in continuous coextensive contactwith the upper surface of said granular material and the top surfaces ofsaid beams and cover-ing the inner surface of said wall enclosure.

2. The pool construction defined in claim 1 wherein the deeper portionof said floor is in the form of a truncated pyramid with said ledgecomprising the larger base of the pyramid and said sloping beamsterminate at the smaller base of the pyramid, the smaller base of thepyramid being constituted by beams at which the sloping beams terminate.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS `625,258 5/1899Grow 50-100 X 1,352,429 9/1920 Clarke 61-37 1,963,405 6/1934 Eichelmanet al 50-153 2,301,592 11/1942 Teuber 61-37 2,836,832 `6/1958 DeNamur4-172 2,888,818 6/1959 Leuthesser 50-110 X 3,015,191 1/1962 Lucchesi4-172 3,020,560 2/1962 Bedick 4-172 3,024,470 3/1962 Baker 4--172 FRANKL. ABBOTT, Primary Examiner.

JACOB L. NACKENOFF, HENRY C. SUTHERLAND,

Examiners.

1. A SWIMMING POOL CONSTRUCTION COMPRISING A WALL ENCLOSURE, A FLOOR OFGRANULAR MATERIAL, A FIRST PORTION OF SAID FLOOR BEING FLAT AND AT ARELATIVELY SHALLOW DEPTH, A SECOND PORTION OF SAID FLOOR BEING GENERALLYFUNNELSHAPED AND EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY FROM THE LEVEL OF SAID FIRSTPORTION, SAID SECOND PORTION INCLUDING A LEDGE AT THE SAME LEVEL AS SAIDFIRST PORTION OF THE FLOOR AND EXTENDING AROUND THE PERIPHERY OF SAIDSECOND PORTION ADJACENT TO SAID WALL ENCLOSURE, A TRANSVERSE BEAMEXTENDING ACROSS SAID FLOOR BETWEEN SAID SHALLOW FIRST PORTION AND SAIDSECOND PORTION, THE ENDS OF SAID TRANSVERSE BEAM BEING SECURED TOOPPOSED SIDE WALLS OF SAID WALL ENCLOSURE, THE TOP SURFACE OF SAIDTRANSVERSE BEAM BEING LEVEL WITH THE SURFACE OF THE LEVEL FIRST PORTIONOF SAID FLOOR, SAID LEDGE INCLUDING A PLURALITY OF INTERCONNECTED LEDGEBEAMS SPACED FROM AND COEXTENSIVE WITH THE WALLS OF THE POOL WHICHSURROUND SAID LEDGE, THE TOP SURFACE OF SAID LEDGE BEAMS LYING AT THESAME LEVEL AS THE TOP SURFACE OF SAID TRANSVERSE BEAM, A PLURALITY OFSLOPING BEAMS SECURED TO SAID TRANSVERSE BEAM AND TO SAID LEDGE BEAMSAND EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY TOWARD THE CENTER OF SAID DEEPER PORTION OF THEFLOOR WHERE THEY ARE SECURED IN PLACE, THE TRANSVERSE BEAM, LEDGE BEAMSAND SLOPING BEAMS RESTING ON A SUPPORTING EARTH SURFACE AND FORMINGTHEREWITH A PLURALITY OF OPEN END COMPARTMENTS, ALL OF SAID COMPARTMENTSBEING FILLED WITH SAID GRANULAR MATERIAL, THE UPPER SURFACE OF SAIDGRANULAR MATERIAL BEING FLAT AND AT THE SAME LEVEL AS THE TOP SURFACESOF SAID BEAMS FORMING SAID COMPARTMENTS, AND A FLEXIBLE PLASTIC LINERSHEET BEING IN CONTINUOUS COEXTENSIVE CONTACT WITH THE UPPER SURFACE OFSAID GRANULAR MATERIAL AND THE TOP SURFACES OF SAID BEAMS AND COVERINGTHE INNER SURFACE OF SAID WALL ENCLOSURE.